Eire escape



(No Model.)

P. P. FISH. FIRE ESCAPE.

Patenad4 Apr. '25, `-1882.

VBY

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ATTQRNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT einen.

FRANK P. FISH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

- y'SIPIEKtIIICl-kTION forming part or" Letters Patent No. 256,990, dated April 25, 1882.

Application filed February Q1, 1582. (No model.)

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK l. F1sH,of New York city, in the county of New York and State ot New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, ot' which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to that class ot' lireescapes which are adapted to be permanently fixed to the outside of the wall ot' the building;

l and it has for its object to provide a tire-escape of this character having such construction th at itis adapted to unfold and furnish a ladder for easy and safe descentfrom the windows of the building, and to be drawn together or folded up, when not in use, in sueh position that it will be practically invisible on the wall of the building.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a front elevation of my new and improved nre-escape, the parts being in position for use. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, taken on the line a' a' of Fig. 1, showing the escape attached to the wall ot the building. Fig. 3 is a like view, showing the parts in folded position. Fig. 4t is a detailed sectional elevation taken on the lineygz/ ot' Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of the interior side of the wallet' the building, showing the means for closing and holding the parts of the escape in folded or closed position and for preventing the movable upright from falling too rapidly, the means for unlocking the movable upright to permit it to drop to position for use,and the means for giving the alarm.

A A represent the uprights or side bars of the fire-escape ladder, which are semi-cylindrical in cross-section, as show," in Figs. 2 and 3; and B B represent the cross-pieces or rounds, which are hinged at their ends between the edges of the uprights, as shown at d d. The uprights are of a length about equal to the height of the building to which the escape is to be attached, and they are built up of seetions spliced together by the splice-plates f f, which are bolted or riveted to the ends of the sections, as shown in Figs. l and 4.

The upright A is adapted to be made fast to thc wall C of the building by the stapleirons c, driven into the wall, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The upright A is not attached to the wall, but is left free to swing upon the hinged rounds, so that it may swing out away from the upright A to bring the rounds into horizontal position for use, or be drawn up by suitable means, so that its edges will come against the edges ofthe upright A, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which position the uprights entirely inelose the rounds, and the escape will present the appearance upon the wall of the building of pipe, similar to a water-pipe, leading from the roof ofthe building.

rlhe outward movement ot' the movable upright away from the fixed upright is Vlimited by the irons D D, which are driven into the wall of the building and inclose the two uprights, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In most instances, however, the movable upright will be made in such manner that when it swings away from the lixed upright its lower end will rest upon the ground or pavement; buti'or additional security as many of theirons D as may be considered necessary, according tothe height of the building, will be used, and these irons also prevent the movable upright from swinging away from the wall.

The means I employ for folding the escape consists ofthe small wire cable E, which is attached at its outer end to the movable upright A', about midway of its length, as shown at c in Figs. l and 4. From this point the cable passes under the pulley f', secured in the upright A; thence up along theinside ot the said upright to a point near its upper end, where it passes over the pulley g, also secured in the fixed upright; thence through the perforation h in the upright and the pcrl'bration h. in the wall; thence over the pulley g', seemed upon the inside of the wall; thence down along the interior of the wall to the lower Vl'loor or basement of the building, where it is given a turn around the crankshaft H, (shown in Fig. 5,) and is provided at its inner end with thc counterbalance-weight I, which weightprevents position consists of the pivoted stop or button L, .which is adapted to be moved under or so as to engage with the crank t of the kcrankshaft H for holding the shafttrom being turned by the weight of thc movable upright A', rest-V c thence up along the interior of the wall to the upper story of the building, where it is secured from the fixed upright A.

to a pin or similar fastening, as shown at j in Fig. 5. rlhis wire or cable is adapted to be pulled from each story of the building for releasing the movable upright for setting the escape 1n case of fire by means of the small hand cranks or levers J, which are set upon or in the walhor upon suitable ornamental plates set in the wall, and attached to the wire or cable N, as shown in` Fig. 5. When the cable or wire N is given a. pull by operating any one ofthe levers J sufficient to swing the button or stop L upon its pivot sufficient distance to release the crank i, the weight of the movable upright A will cause itto drop or swing awa-y The sudden and heavy fall or drop which the upright A otherwise would have is checked, so as to prevent any injurious jarring or racking of the escape by the counterbalance-weight I, attached to the inner end of the cable E below the crank-shaft H, as above mentioned, and as shown in Fig. 5. The upward movement of the cable E,

4Q caused by the falling of the movable upright A,is c used to give au alarm in cach story of the building by means of the bells K K, which are caused to be struck by the projections 7c 7c, secured to the cable E in proper position for strikingthe hammer-crank ofthe bell, as shown in Fig. 5. By this means all persons in the building may be warned of the re and their attention called directly to the fire-escape when the escape is set for use.

In order to fold the escape after it has been set for use, or in the iirst instance, it is only necessary to apply power to the crankiof the shaft H, which will draw upon the cableE and raise the movable upright. When the movable uprightis drawn to position the button L is to be turned on its pivot under the crank to await the next emergency. v

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of an end-notched button, L, and a shaft, H, having a crank arm, t', adapted to lock in the notch of said button and to told 'the movable upright A in folded position, as described.

2. The combination, with a wall, C, having pulleys P P' and pin j, of the cableV N and button L, whereby the upright A may be unlocked from any story of the building and allowed to ldrop into position for immediate use, as described.

3. The combination, with a dropping upright, A', of a weighted cable, E, having the projections k 7c and one or more bells, K, whereby thedropping ofY theapright causes 4firea-larm to be sounded, as described.

FRANK BARRY FISH.

Witnesses H. A. WEST, C. SEDGWICK. 

